I'm looking for a TC-E3 3X lens for my Coolpix for a Hawii trip coming up. My favorite pictures are more of the "Portrait" types (with people in them and not that much distance). That being said, I may not be the most creative when using telephoto lenses. Any tips &amp; techniques on how to use a telephoto lense to expand my creativity in their use? Any links to get me thinking about their use?

And: If you have a TC-E3 3x lens, is there any reason to buy a TC-E2 2x lens? Is TC-E3 always a superior product relative to the TC-E2?

P.S. I do have a wide angle &amp; Fisheye lense that I look forward to using.

The telephoto lens will be good for taking those portrait shots that you wish to have the background blurred.

Using the lens, zoom in on the subjec/s and open up the aperture of the camera as much as you can without getting too much light. This will give you that nice portrait shot with the people in focus, and the background slightly out of focus. You need to be sure that the people are not directly in front of the background though.

The general rule is that the lower the power the TC, the better the picture will be.

This isn't completely true, because you could make a bad 2xTC and a good 3xTC and therefor the 3x would win. But as a general rule you should go with the lower power TC. (Note this is also a statement about personal standards and quality. What is "good" to someone is "not good enough" to another.)

Do realize that the more power the TC has, the steadier you have to hold the camera. The longer the zoom the more it magnifies the camera shake.

As for creative uses. One thing is you can get pictures of people when they aren't expecting it. You can catch them "unaware" which can lead to more interesting expressions and situations.

RyanH: I have a Coolpix 4300. I'll have to experiment with changing the aperature as you describe (any more tips appreciated). Is the "Spot" focus setting the best for the situation you describe? What does opening up the aperature do anyway?

Opening the aperture, or f-stop,opens the little "eyeball" inside of the lens to allow more light in. The more it is open (the smaller number, 2, 4) the more light that is allowed through the lens. The more it is closed (the larger number, 8, 16, etc.) the less light allowed through the lens.

Think of the numbering like fractions. f2 would be 1/2 and f4 would be 1/4 and f8 would be 1/8. 1/2 is bigger then 1/8, thus the "eyeball" or opening would be open more with an f2 setting.

If you don't have these manual options on your camera, you may have a Portrait setting that could suffice as well.

I get the fact that more light comes in but why are you recommending it for portrait shots? Is it because the TC has a narrower field of view (FOV) thus limiting the light? Under Manual Mode my Coolpix can be set to the type of lens that's used. I wonder how the camera uses that information?

Here's a decent converstation on PhotoShop Filters (do select "Show all Messages"). Or,if you don't have a login id,do a "forum search" for the thread's subject "Must have filters/plugins, 3rd party applications".